Monday, we spoke about the multitude of events that will occur this week. These included today’s release of the Fed minutes from the March FOMC meeting, as well as the ADP jobs report. These events could, in fact, be a precursor to the crescendo and finale that will begin on Thursday with the start of an American – Chinese Summit.

Two days from now, the eyes of the world will be intensely focused on a members-only club in Palm Beach, Florida, as the first American-Chinese summit begins. On Thursday, two of the most powerful men in the world will meet for the first time. There seems to be an extreme amount of uncertainty surrounding the meeting between the Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Trump.

This week brings with it a multitude of events that will no doubt shape the future pricing of gold and silver. Key events include today’s release of the ISM manufacturing report and Wednesday’s release of Fed minutes. This series of events will reach a crescendo with Presidents Trump’s scheduled meeting with President Xi Jinping, as well as Friday's jobs report.

As we close out the books for the first quarter of 2017, we see trends which have emerged, as well as trends that have continued. As always, there are winners and losers. This year the precious metal’s performance is certainly stellar, especially when compared to U.S. equity indexes which have done extremely well this year.

It’s all about the dollar. Or is it? There are certainly additional outside factors which have put pressure on gold. However, it is the U.S. dollar which has accounted for the clear majority of precious metal weakness this week. 

It may be hard to believe, but the first quarter of 2017 is quickly coming to an end. With only a couple of days left in March, it seems likely that gold prices will score a solid gain in terms of their first quarter performance. Gold was trading at 1144 on January 2nd of this year, and as of today, we have gold futures trading at 1255, which is a net gain of $111 or .088 %.

US equities broke an eight-day losing streak in reaction to positive economic data and an uptick in consumer confidence. The most recent data suggests that Consumer Confidence Index is at its highest level since 2000. The Index gained 9 ½ points in March and is currently at 125.8, which is a 27-year high.

In an 11^th hour move last Friday, President Trump asked House leaders to cancel the vote to repeal and replace Obamacare. Market participants had little to no time to respond to this news on Friday. They did, however, have an opportunity to react to this news yesterday as markets opened overseas.

The tension in the air was palpable as market participants waited for the initiation of a vote on the health care bill. In an 11^th hour move, with under a half hour before the House was set to vote, President Trump asked House leaders to cancel today’s vote.

Whether it is nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of voting on a healthcare bill you do not believe will have enough votes to pass, or to take arms against the bill, and by opposing it …